Coming Home
by penvision
Summary: Snippets and one-shots of Alex and Maggie. Chapter two: post 2x15, Maggie falls apart
1. Chapter 1

Bzzz... Bzzz... Bzzz... Alex mechanically cracks an eye open at the first buzz next to her ear. By the second her hand is scrambling blindly for her cell. After the third she is able to focus on the glowing numbers of her alarm clock. 0416. "Great." She manages to get the phone to her ear and grunts.

"Danvers." J'onn. The hand draped loosely over Alex's waist slides around to her stomach, under her shirt. She closes her eyes and lets herself be drawn into a warm body as lips leave a sleepy open mouthed kiss on her neck, bare legs tangling with hers. She hums happily, already drifting back to sleep. "I need you to come in."

She feels Maggie burrow her nose between her shoulder blades, feels her drag her foot along her calf, feels her warm breath through her worn t-shirt, and bites down an irritated groan, "...right."

"ETA Agent Danvers?" J'onn's question, the use of her title, snaps her brain into work mode even as her body melts into her pillow, her mattress, Maggie's embrace.

The hand on her stomach traces idle patterns into her skin and Alex tries to focus, wills her eyes to stay open. The streets will be mostly empty, and she can skip her shower, grab coffee once she's there, maybe a bagel if she beats Kara. Her muscles ache and her stomach clenches at the thoughts. "I can be there in fifteen. Should I bring Maggie?"

Maggie's hand stills at the question, lips returning to Alex's neck. The pause on the line stretches out in the silent room. "No." J'onn's voice softens. "And make it thirty, the world's not ending. Yet."

She can practically feel the hot water on her back, taste the coffee on her tongue already. "Yes, sir. Thank you."

J'onn grunts before disconnecting and Alex slides her phone back onto her nightstand before turning on the lamp. The sharp light stings and she whines as she buries her face into her pillow, feels more than hears Maggie's answering groan against her spine. She finds Maggie's hand against her stomach and intertwines their fingers, squeezing softly, feels Maggie squeeze back. "You have to get up, Danvers."

Alex sighs and brushes her thumb over Maggie's wrist, her pulse point, lets herself be comforted by the steady beat for a few seconds before untangling their legs and slipping out of her embrace. It takes most of Alex's willpower and three of her thirty minutes to fully sit up. She rests her elbows on her knees and runs her hands over her eyes, through her hair. "You've spoiled me, Sawyer, I never had trouble getting out of bed before."

"Hmm, no apologies." Alex feels Maggie's hand slip into her hair and leans her head back as fingernails tenderly scratch her scalp. "Am I going in?"

"No."

"You gonna shower first?" Alex nods and Maggie's fingers tug, just a little, teasing. "Want me to join you?"

"Don't you dare." Alex stands and faces her smirking girlfriend, tries to hold a glare even as she takes in the sight of Maggie curled up under her sheets. She should be used to this by now; this domesticity, this intimacy, this peacefulness, but her chest still aches with happiness and she cannot keep the smile off of her face. Maggie's smirk turns into a grin and Alex bends down to kiss her once, twice, before pulling the sheets up and brushing her finger through her hair, "go back to sleep. I love you."

A gentle hand at the base of Alex's neck draws her into another kiss, and she feels Maggie's words against her lips; "I love you."


	2. Chapter 2

Maggie's hand trembles more and more as she pulls her keychain out of her pocket, fumbles for the spare key, tries to slip it into the lock. It clatters to the floor after her third attempt, the sound sharp in the empty hallway, and she lets her forehead fall against the door. "Shit."

Alex silently bends down behind her and scoops the keys up. She finds the spare easily; still shiny and new, and reaches past Maggie to fit the key into the lock. She rests her fingers around the handle and settles her other hand in the space between Maggie's shoulder blades, feels as much as hears her girlfriend's shuddering sigh. "Maggie." With every step away from the DEO Maggie had gotten quieter, had pulled into herself a little more, and Alex is torn between wanting to give her space and wanting to cling to her for the next three days, at least, because she almost never saw her again. She almost never saw her again and now she does not know what to do.

"I'm just processing." Maggie rests her tremoring hand over Alex's on the handle, feels the scabbed skin of her scraped knuckles catch against her palm. Neither twist the lock.

Alex knows that Maggie is used to people leaving after she opens up; that she expects it, knows that she shuts down if she is pushed too hard, knows that her long silences are as much about her thinking as they are about her finding the courage to speak. And Maggie is so, so good at taking care of her, and so unbelievably stubborn about letting herself be taken care of, but she is getting better at it. So Alex does not push. So Alex waits.

After a minute or two Maggie takes a deep, steadying breath, "when I said 'ride or die,' I didn't think I'd have to deal with… I don't know how to deal with a spaceship. With the idea of you being alive but-" She swallows, but the lump in her throat sticks, "gone. Not just gone; unreachable." She lets Alex's fingers thread with hers and squeezes, "I don't know how to deal with that."

Alex places a soft kiss on her shoulder, brushes her hair back so that she can place another on her neck, behind her ear, "me neither."

Maggie shakes her head against the door and turns around, her fingers reaching out and threading through Alex's hair as their eyes meet. "I'm sorry, I'm making this about me when you're the one who had a gun to your head and took down a CADMUS base and almost-" She turns her head and closes her eyes, hands dropping to her sides.

"Hey, no," Alex cups her cheeks, thumbs brushing her cheekbones, as she gently guides her head back. She kisses the worry lines of Maggie's forehead, her hidden dimples, the corner of her mouth. She waits. With another sigh Maggie blinks her eyes open and Alex swears her heart stutters as she takes in their raw vulnerability. "You're allowed to be upset, okay? Someone very important to me taught me that."

Maggie fists her hands in Alex's shirt, under her jacket, and pulls her closer, closer, until Alex's body is pinning her against the door, hands settled at her waist. Her weight is familiar, their hips and chests flush, and Maggie feels like she can breathe a little easier, feels a little less exposed. Alex rests her forehead against hers and Maggie's lips quirk in a little smile, "they sound pretty smart."

"They are." Alex presses closer, needing to feel as much of Maggie as possible. "What do you need?"

Maggie slips her hands under Alex's shirt, against her skin, splays her fingers into the slots between her ribs, feels her chest expand with each breath that puffs against her lips. "You. Just you."

"I need you, too." Alex kisses her softly, a chaste brush of lips against lips, before pulling back just enough to give Maggie space, to let her decide what she wants. Maggie follows, pulling Alex's lower lip between hers and asking with the swipe of her tongue. Alex lets out a groan and Maggie freezes under her hands. Alex immediately lets her hands drop and starts to pull back.

"No, I-" Maggie slips her hands down to Alex's hips and draws her back, needing to feel the weight of her body, the familiar curves, the heat that Alex seems to radiate. "It scares me; how much."

"Maggie." Alex can still feel the tremors that have not left Maggie's hands. She reaches down and slips them into her own, intertwining their fingers, brings Maggie's knuckles to her lips.

"Yeah?" Maggie feels completely exposed, but for the first time that she can remember she feels no desire to run.

"Me too." Maggie stutters over a sob and Alex pulls her into her arms. "I'm here." Alex takes Maggie's hand and places it on her neck, pressing it close until she can feel her own heartbeat under Maggie's fingers. "I'm here, I've got you."

"Alex." Maggie buries her face into Alex's neck and wraps her arms around her as more tears fall.

Alex's hand returns to the handle and twists. "I'm here, I've got you." She repeats it until it becomes a mantra as she guides them to the couch, as she covers them with a blanket, as Maggie, safe in her arms, finally falls apart.


End file.
